Local Connection: Juvenile Justice System

A recent report on the juvenile justice system was
eye-opening, to say the least.

The good news was that juvenile arrests fell 28 percent and
the number of youth...

Admitted to the hawaii youth correctional facility fell 41
percent.

But the surprising and disturbing news is that those at the
facility are staying longer. Back in 2004, the average stay at h-y-c-f was 2.5
months. Now it is 7.2 months. What's worse, three quarters of those who leave
the facility will be back within three years.

Each young person housed at the facility costs taxpayers
nearly $200,000 a year.

As the report correctly points out, much work needs to be
done. One recommendation is that youth comitted to the facility for
misdemeanors (nearly two-thirds of first offenses) should no longer be housed
there.

Alternatives include more resources for substance abuse,
which make up an astounding 80 percent of all cases in the juvenile justice
system.

Other recommendations involve more access to mental health
treatment, a better process to have young offenders reenter society and the
strengthening of probation practices.

We commend the working group of judges, law enforcement
officials, legislators and educators who know that protecting and
rehabilitating troubled youth is an important for the future of society.

(AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File). FILE - This Monday, June 19, 2017, file photo shows a user signing in to Facebook on an iPad, in North Andover, Mass. Facebook has a problem it just can’t kick: People keep exploiting it in ways that could sway election...

News reports that Facebook let the Trump-affiliated data mining firm Cambridge Analytica abscond with data from tens of millions of users mark the third time in roughly a year the company appears to have been outfoxed in this way.

News reports that Facebook let the Trump-affiliated data mining firm Cambridge Analytica abscond with data from tens of millions of users mark the third time in roughly a year the company appears to have been outfoxed in this way.

In 2015, the Federal government passed the Every Student Succeeds Act, allowing states to limit the amount of time that students take standardized tests. A similar bill is traveling through the Hawaii legislature.

In 2015, the Federal government passed the Every Student Succeeds Act, allowing states to limit the amount of time that students take standardized tests. A similar bill is traveling through the Hawaii legislature.